Sharon Hansen

Me and my Russian Quilt

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I was in California visiting my daughter and we decided to visit the local quilt shop. We looked at fabrics, selected some and then I spied a quilting machine - an HQ16. I examined it closely and examined the quilting even more closely! A sales person in the shop noticed my interest and explained the features of the machine, gave me a demonstration and let me try quilting! Now I hadn't thought of buying a quilting machine. I had hand quilted one quilt (and decided I would have to live to 200 to finish all the quilts I wanted to do), quilted a few on my domestic machine, and had a couple professionally quilted but I was intriqued with the HQ Sixteen. The gentleman thought he might have a sale and he finished with the statement that if I bought a machine from him he would come to my house and set it up for me. I laughed and said "Great! But you should know that I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." He looked at me and asked "Is that anywhere near Philadelphia? I have a brother that lives there." "No", I said, "that is five hours away on the other side of the state." We both laughed, chatted for a few more minutes and then my daughter and I paid for our purchases of material and we left. I kept thinking about that machine. On the flight home visions of swirls and feathers danced in my head. After arriving home, I looked on the internet and found a local dealer about an hour away. I called and found out that they offered a class to become familiar with the machine and that you could rent it by the hour to quilt your own quilts. I took the class with the thought that I would rent time on the machine. I changed my mind quickly and purchased the HQ16. It arrived just before Christmas in 2006. I have had such fun with my HQ Sixteen. I started out with charity quilts to give me experience. Then I graduated to more challenging tops. I love to watch the quilt tops turn into quilts. The swirls and feathers are no longer just in my head, but are scattered across the quilts. Over the last four years I have quilted over 100 quilts and have won ribbons at our local quilt show. My husband and I like to travel and I have made quilts that remind me of our travels. Last December I sold my HQ16 and became the proud owner of an Avante. I am still quilting and still having fun!